NSA spying program renewed ahead of congressional showdown

A federal court has renewed a National Security Agency program allowing for the bulk collection of Americans' phone records, highlighting a battle between the White House and Congress to reform the nature of mass surveillance in the country.

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) gave a green
light to the government to let the US telephone metadata
collection program continue until June 1, when the provisions in
the Patriot Act legalizing the practice will expire.

At that point, lawmakers will have the option of reauthorizing
the law, allowing it to expire or replace it altogether.

Under the current program, the NSA can gather phone metadata,
including call duration, location, and who called who and when,
although the actual content of the phone conversations is off
limits.

The government has thus far been required to reauthorize the
program every 90 days. Friday’s renewal marks the fifth time the
Obama administration has extend the program since promising to
overhaul the United States domestic surveillance practices in
January 2014.

In a statement released by White House Press Secretary Josh
Earnest, failure to reform the program has been placed at the
feet of Congress.

“In January 2014, President Obama directed an end to the
Section 215 bulk telephony metadata program as it then existed,
and called for the establishment of a mechanism that would
preserve the program’s essential capabilities without the
government holding the bulk data,” the statement read.

“In March 2014, based on a recommendation from the Director
of National Intelligence and the Attorney General, the President
proposed that the data should remain at the telephone companies
rather than with the government, with a new legal mechanism that
would allow the government to obtain data from these companies
pursuant to individual court orders.”

The statement goes on to say that Congress has thus far failed to
pass legislation to implement these reforms, known as the USA
Freedom Act.

The House of Representatives passed the USA Freedom Act on in May
2014. The measure, however, was later shot down in the Senate
after falling short by two votes.

Republican Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell at the time
called the bulk collection of Americans’ metadata a vital tool in
the fight against terrorism.

"This is the worst possible time to be tying our hands behind
our backs," he said.

The White House said that Congress has a “limited
window” to act to overhaul the telephony metadata program,
“while preserving key intelligence authorities.”

“The Administration continues to stand ready to work with the
Congress on such legislation and would welcome the opportunity to
do so.”

Knowledge of the program was first made public by NSA-leaker
Edward Snowden in 2013. Since that time, the Obama administration
has made minor alterations to the program, including a provision
that requires a court order before the information can be
queried.

Some civil liberties advocates had asked Obama to forgo the
latest renewal, though the president has said he will not act
unilaterally. Proponents say it has provided a vital tool in the
battle against terrorism, though critics argue it has never
provided actionable intelligence and poses a grave risk to the
right to privacy.